- Air Safety

OTHER NEWS TO NOTE WASHINGTON

April 12, 1990

A PILOTS' group says controllers are letting planes fly too close together near six major airports. The International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations has given ''black stars'' to the skies above the airports in Los Angeles; Charlotte, N.C.; Cleveland; Dallas-Fort Worth; Memphis, Tenn.; and Phoenix, Ariz. The stars warn pilots that those areas are ''critically deficient'' in safety because of a change in traffic control rules. At most airports, controllers are required to keep commercial aircraft at least three miles apart horizontally. At those six airports, however, the Federal Aviation Administration now permits planes to be as close as 750 feet horizontally. The FAA defends the new practice as safe.